Former Cheshire Man Killed in Friendly Fire Incident in Afghanistan
CHESHIRE, Mass. — A former Cheshire man was among three Army service members killed by an errant bomb from a B-52 aircraft north of Kandahar, Afghanistan on Wednesday.
Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Henry Petithory was 32 years old.
Also killed in the friendly fire incident were Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald Davis, 39 of Tennessee and Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser, 28 of California. All three deceased soldiers served in the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, Fort Campbell, Ky.
Twenty service members were injured in the incident, which is being investigated by the Department of Defense. Pentagon officials said a B-52 bomber dropped a 2,000-pound precision-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition about 100 meters from the troops at about 12:30 a.m. EST Wednesday. Navy Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem estimated the blast radius to be about 4,000 feet.
Two of the men died immediately and the third died on a plane while being evacuated from Afghanistan. Five Afghan opposition fighters also died in the incident and several others were wounded. All the injured were immediately evacuated to a U.S. base in southern Afghanistan and some were sent on to other regional medical facilities.
Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said the deaths and injuries underscored the dangers involved in military life.
"Every day the men and women of the military put their lives at risk defending our freedoms and our way of life," she said. "For that we are very grateful."
Stufflebeem said the men died fulfilling the motto of special operations forces: "To liberate the oppressed." He added: "These men died as heroes and were wounded as heroes, and our prayers are with them and their families."
He said a U.S. forward air controller had called for an air strike after fighting erupted between Taliban and opposition forces in an area north of Kandahar.
"It takes very fine control and coordination and precision," the admiral explained. U.S. Central Command officials are investigating the cause of the accident.
Petithory, who enlisted in the Army when he graduated from high school, was not married and had no children.
(Excerpts from a Department of Defense news service story were used for this article)
Tags: 9/11, afghanistan, military,
